A continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic resin pellet (hereinafter referred to also simply as “continuous fiber-reinforced resin pellet”) is used as a raw material in injection molding.
In manufacturing a continuous fiber-reinforced resin pellet there is used a roving package comprising windings of a reinforcing fiber bundle (roving) of a large number of reinforcing filaments. More particularly, a reinforcing fiber bundle drawn out from a roving package is introduced continuously into an impregnation die and is impregnated with molten thermoplastic resin, further, a continuous fiber-reinforced resin strand withdrawn continuously from the impregnation die is cut into a predetermined length, whereby a continuous fiber-reinforced resin pellet is manufactured.
Thus, for manufacturing a continuous fiber-reinforced resin pellet it is necessary to draw out a reinforcing fiber bundle (continuous fiber-reinforced resin strand) continuously, so if there occurs a trouble in the drawing-out operation, it is no longer possible to manufacture a continuous fiber-reinforced resin pellet in an efficient manner.